Getting To The Root Of People Places & Things Musical: Lifting the Veil of Entertainment
IN THIS ROOT TONES edition, I discuss three traditional notions of music from Merita (Africa) which challenge the very fabric of what we here in America call the "performing arts". As a preface to that, I explain modern definitions of "self expression" in the "performing arts" as discussed in most intellectual circles.
MODERN NOTIONS OF SELF-EXPRESSION
The modern "performing arts" usually see themselves as being on the "edge" of the creative world, so I shall expose the basis of that psychology before I present some traditional Kemetic notions of music.
In America, when we listen to music at our local clubs or when we enjoy our favourite bands at a local concert arena, we find ourselves stimulated and inspired in a variety of ways. Our emotions are stimulated; often our bodies feel good; we dance; we experience intellectual stimulation; and sometimes, we even find that our perception becomes altered. Contemporary musicians and artists have always strived to find new and interesting ways to stimulate people, to combine styles in order to forge new sounds, and to incorporate diverse elements into the stage performance in order to do something "fresh" or new.
If you travel around the big cities of the Americas, Europe, Asia, or around the so-called "developed" world for that matter, you will see a vast array of musical styles. There are huge varieties of styles, definitions of music, and approaches to music. Looking at it all can give you the impression that everything that could be tried has been tried.
Thinking that the parameters have been defined in their limitlessness, the human mind seeks out common elements in that diversity. This gives the average person the impression that there is a common identity that runs through all music despite its particular style. Often, discussions of the "performing arts" reduce this common thread
to the notion of "expression".
When people try to define "expression", they often talk about the person who is expressing himself/herself. They may not need an audience for this self-expression. They can be alone, without any other humans watching. These people are often seen as "expressing" themselves alone in order to fulfill their own personal creativity or "satisfaction". When the persons "expressing" themselves have an audience, their "self-expression" takes on an interactive quality. The line between the performer and the audience has often been blurred depending on what the artist's approach is.
You may notice sometimes that the audience is being influenced by the performer, or that the performer is being influenced by the audience. Regardless of where it begins and ends, the effects of "expression" are typically categorized into the following types of notions: emotional, physical (flesh, bones, bioelectric field, nervous system), and mental (psychological and intellectual). For most musicians or artists, it then becomes a question of how a person can stimulate and/or be stimulated by any one of, or complex combinations of these notions.
Those who think they have grasped all the parameters of expression fall into the trap of limited thinking and delusions of grandeur.
MUSIC OF MERITAH
I will now present three very different notions of musical applications coming from the traditional human world as these notions have been preserved in Merita (Africa). You will not find these musical notions being applied in modern "performing arts". The first notion is music used to "do readings". The second notion is music used to "call ancestors". The third notion is music used to facilitate "being taken".
Lets talk about each one.
MUSIC FOR READINGS
The first notion; is music used to do readings on people. The first question to be answered: "What is a reading?"
A reading" is a process often defined as a "divination". Typically, a priest or "professional reader" uses some technique or techniques to see into the destiny and/or composition of the person they are reading. The usage of music to facilitate this process has been sustained for countless generations and passed down from generation to generation in some Griot and musician bloodlines.
This year, I had the great privilege of witnessing and being a subject of this type of reading. A number of different instruments can be used. In the reading that I was a part of, a small, custom built fretted guitar was being used. The musician begins to play a special musical pattern that repeats itself. Then he starts to sing. If you put a coin, or money offering into the hole of the guitar, he will then begin to tell you everything about yourself, give you guidance, even tell you about spiritual work, or specific medicines that you may need. I noticed that when he was reading, everybody
in the room one-at-a-time, he would not look at anyone, when the coin went in, he would just begin to sing about that person, exposing things. The reader did not know any of the people he was singing about in a social capacity or by word-of mouth.
For the reader, it is the music that is a vehicle for this type of reading.
MUSIC FOR CALLING ANCESTORS
The second notion is music being used to call ancestors. The first question to be answered: "What is 'calling ancestors'?"
"Calling ancestors" is an ancient process that has been preserved to this day in Meritah (Africa) by some ethnic groups. It is a process facilitated by a priest or priestess who then becomes a medium or an intermediary through whom the dead may express themselves. In other words, ancestors who are no longer alive in our world, speak through the mouths of the priests or priestesses in order to communicate and interface with the world of the living. We see this as a very important process because we continue to work with the ancestors in preserving their work for the generations. I had the privilege to be a part of this type of ceremony when I was in Meritah (Africa). The priest in the ceremony utilizes iron bells and a rattle. The priest plays the bells, employing special rhythms in order to facilitate the opening of the ceremony.
Throughout the rest of the ceremony, and up until the closing, the priest continues to play the bells as a component that guides the ceremony. The bells are an important vehicle for this type of ceremony. Sometimes a drummer will accompany these bells, although the bells are usually the primary musical vehicle.
MUSIC FOR BEING TAKEN
The third notion is; music being used to facilitate "being taken". The first question to be answered is: "What is 'being taken'?"
"Being taken" is also commonly referred to as "possession". It happens when a person is pushed out of his/her body; and another type of entity enters the body. Again, I have had the privilege of being part of a type of ceremony in Merita (Africa) called a "Deities Dance". The ceremony I witnessed comprised two drummers, a person playing a piece of metal, and a group of people singing ceremonial songs that accompany the music. The drummers are the ones to really push the ceremony forward. The drummers are trained in intense initiations to know special rhythms for facilitating this type of ceremony. It is really an amazing process to watch. The drummers will begin to play to open up the ceremony. Then they will begin to push certain types of rhythms that will facilitate the pushing of the dancers out of their bodies to somewhere far away. Then the bodies of those same persons will be inhabited by Deities who will then begin to express themselves in the ceremony. Sometimes the Deities will stay for a long time.
Sometimes they come and go quickly. It is the drummer who facilitates the core of this type of ceremony. It is the special rhythms being used that are a vehicle for this process.
These notions of music are unfamiliar to the "modern world". Music is not just for enjoying yourself or feeling good. As you can see now, there is a lot more than just the
"performing arts" when it comes to music. This type of knowledge is a treasure that is only passed down in intense initiations through specific bloodlines. It is important for us all to meditate on this in order to allow our perspective of the world to shift.
우